


Something Old

by disseria



Series: Clan of the Night Flowers [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Herbalism, M/M, Magic!Stiles, Ninja, Scents & Smells, kami - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-25
Updated: 2014-06-25
Packaged: 2018-02-06 03:51:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1843294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disseria/pseuds/disseria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles hummed happily as he swallowed, a tiny smear of chocolate on his upper lip that was begging to be licked off. Eying the rest of the banana carefully, he shifted his gaze to Derek. "I bet I could fit the rest of this banana in my mouth, if I tried."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Old

**Author's Note:**

> _The information provided in this story is not intended to act as a substitute for proper medical diagnosis, treatment or care from your doctor. If you are currently taking medication prescribed by your doctor, do not stop taking it without his or her advice. If you have any concerns regarding your medical condition please speak with your doctor first. All information provided in this story is for entertainment purposes only._

* * *

 

_Banana_

_Though some may find it strange that the banana is a symbol of the feminine, it is nevertheless known to be a powerful antidote for impotency. A symbol of Venus and of water, its leaves, flowers, and fruit are all used to increase fertility, prosperity, and wealth._

 

* * *

 

**3 years ago**

Stiles squinted up at the sky, which was impossibly blue. Puffy white clouds were drifting slowly through the bright, summer day, and there was a hint of ocean in the air. Derek and Stiles had somehow managed to get away from the rest of the pack, and were sitting together enjoying coffee and dessert in a courtyard full of flowers in Carmel. 

The trip had been Derek's idea, just a fun weekend visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Boyd had made a comment that he'd always wanted to go, but had never been. They had spent the night in a hotel after going to the aquarium and Cannery Row, and decided to stop in Carmel for lunch before making the drive back home. The three Betas had taken off shortly after they parked the car. The forests around Carmel were lush and green, unexplored territory with no established pack in the area. They basically had free reign. 

Derek, was glad for the brief respite from the rest of the pack, to have some alone time with Stiles, who was at the moment enjoying a frozen banana. Derek's eyes went wide as Stiles wrapped his lips around the chocolate covered tip, sucking gently at the cold chocolate before finally biting down.

"Mm," Stiles sighed, as he closed his eyes and leaned back, smiling as he chewed. "You know," he said around a mouthful of chocolate and banana, "people really underestimate how good such a simple frozen dessert can be. I think it's like literally two ingredients."

He swallowed, Derek's eyes glued to the bobbing of his Adam's apple. 

Stiles opened his eyes, tilted his head forward, and held the banana out for Derek. "You want some?" he asked, completely innocently.

Derek blinked, swallowed silently, and shook his head, not trusting his voice at the moment. 

Stiles shrugged. "Your loss," he replied, before going for another bite.

Derek grimaced as Stiles took the banana into his mouth, shifting in his seat at the sudden uncomfortable pressure in his pants. He took a tiny breath in as Stiles bit down, and had to physically restrain himself from leaping over the table so that he could start licking his way up Stiles' long, pale neck. He didn't want any of Stiles' banana because he wanted to watch Stiles eat the whole thing by himself.

Stiles hummed happily as he swallowed, a tiny smear of chocolate on his upper lip that was begging to be licked off. Eying the rest of the banana carefully, he shifted his gaze to Derek. "I bet I could fit the rest of this banana in my mouth, if I tried."

Derek's eyes bugged out, as he was seized by a sudden coughing fit. Stiles' raised an eyebrow and slowly inserted the rest of the banana into his mouth. Derek watched with eyes wide, his pants barely able to restrain the growing problem in his underwear. His breaths became shallow as Stiles closed his teeth around the end of the banana and slowly pulled out the stick, leaving the banana in his mouth, never breaking eye contact with Derek. Derek thought his own mouth was closed, but he wasn't sure.

Struggling to chew so much all at once, Stiles finally managed to swallow it all. He smacked his lips with a satisfied smile, his mouth now covered with chocolate. "I just wanted to give you something to think about for the ride home," he said, as he dabbed at his mouth daintily with a napkin.

Derek's eyes flashed red as he glared at the infuriating man who had somehow become the most important person in his life. "You're such a bastard," he growled.

"I know," Stiles replied with a smirk, as he got up and threw the napkin away.

 

* * *

 

_Betony_

_Betony is often required in rituals of protection, purification and love. Placed under the pillow, it is known to prevent the sleeper from having bad dreams. Well known for its shielding powers against dark and negative energy, betony has long been used to counteract sorcery, and is often planted in graveyards to prevent the activities of ghosts._

 

* * *

 

**Now**

 

Stiles frowned at the screen of his laptop, glancing up at Danny and Allison who were sitting on the other couch. Like Stiles, they were surfing the web, searching for any clue as to why forest kamis might have started taking people. Derek and the others said they smelled human blood at the campsite. Stiles hoped that didn’t mean the people who had been taken were dead, but he had lived in Beacon Hills for too long to be that naïve.

Looking back down at his computer, Stiles started typing again. The others were searching the woods, trying in their own way to come up with clues. Not wanting to slow down the more nimble members of the pack, he, Danny and Allison had offered to stay behind and use more conventional methods of searching. So far, they had come up with absolutely nothing.

“This is interesting,” Danny said suddenly, not looking up from his computer.

“What?” asked Allison.

“I created an algorithm based on the three dates we think the people were taken,” Danny explained. “It’s been running for a couple of days now, searching the web for anything those dates might have in common.”

“Did it find anything?” asked Stiles, his curiosity piqued.

“I’m not sure,” Danny replied. “Maybe.” He swiveled his computer around so the others could see it.

“You know the Pacifica Club?” Danny asked.

“Yeah,” Stiles replied, while Allison nodded.

“During each of the disappearances, there was a large gathering of the Pacifica Club in the Beacon Hills preserve,” Danny said, pointing to a graph on his screen.

“Are you saying that the Pacifica Club might be responsible for the disappearances?” Stiles asked.

“Correlation doesn’t equal causation,” Danny said, swiveling the computer around so that it was facing him again. “The Pacifica Club actually meets pretty regularly in the preserve, to go hiking, bird watching, clean up litter, that sort of thing.” He typed something into the computer. “The fact that the group was meeting there around the time of each the disappearances could just be a coincidence.”

“Is there maybe something each of those meetings had in common that didn’t happen at the other gatherings?” Allison asked.

“That’s what I’m checking on, now,” Danny said, continuing to type. Suddenly, his eyebrows shot up. “There _is_ something,” he said, turning the computer to face them again. There was a picture of a man standing at a lectern, smiling with his fist raised high.

“Who is that?” Allison asked.

“Bill Welles,” Danny said, “President of the Pacifica Club. You know how I said there were large gatherings of the club during each of the disappearances?”

“Yeah,” Stiles replied.

“The Pacifica Club is a national organization,” Danny explained. “Apparently, these gatherings were large enough that the president was at each of them as a special guest speaker.”

“It looks like we need to talk to Bill Welles,” Allison said.

“I’ll call Derek,” Stiles said. “Danny, we’re gonna need five plane tickets to the Pacifica Club national office.”

“On it,” Danny said, fingers flying over the keyboard.

 

* * *

 

_Dogwood_

_Dogwood is an essential component for secret writings and communications, and oil of dogwood flower is often used to seal letters._

_The dogwood is associated with the moon and it is said that dogwood sap placed on a handkerchief on Midsummer Eve will grant you any wish as long as you carry it faithfully._

 

* * *

 

Stiles glanced up at the tall building where the Pacifica Club kept their national office. It was on the tenth floor of a downtown office building in Minneapolis and Stiles for one was glad that they were making this trip in the fall. He had been to Minneapolis exactly once, and it had been in the middle of July. It had been his first encounter with humidity, and he prayed it would be his last.

“Well, should we go in?” he asked the others.

“That’s why we came,” Allison answered matter-of-factly.

“Ladies first,” he said, opening the door for her and gesturing inside.

She smiled primly at him, as she swept past. No one looking at her would guess that she had a knife in each boot and a mini-crossbow in her purse. Scott was right behind her, followed by Kaede. Derek held the door, letting Stiles get inside before entering himself and letting the door close behind them. Allison had already hit the call button for the elevator by the time they caught up with her, a look of calm determination on her face.

She considered the four men with her, then said, “Remember, let me and Kaede do the talking. Don’t say anything unless you’re asked a question. We’re only here to get a feel for him, and we don’t need the three of you blowing our cover.”

Stiles scoffed. “What are you talking about? I could totally do this! My dad’s a cop remember? Lying is totally second nature to me.”

Allison shook her head sadly at him and smiled. “Didn’t we establish a long time ago that your dad always knew when you were lying? He just let you get away with it because he didn’t want to waste time trying to argue with you.”

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, before Stiles could defend himself. They went inside and Allison hit the button for the tenth floor.

Derek gathered Stiles into his arms and spoke softly into his ear. “Don’t worry. If we ever have to go under cover again, I promise to let you be the point person.”

Stiles scrunched his face in irritation, fidgeting in the clothes that Danny and Allison had picked out for him specifically for this trip, but he didn’t say anything. Scott smirked at him while Kaede sighed. Kaede had been trained for this kind of work his entire life, and Allison seemed like she was more than capable of playing her part. But, Stiles and the two wolves practically wore their hearts on their sleeves. If anyone was going to blow their cover of wealthy socialite philanthropic entrepreneurs, it was going to be one of them.

The elevator dinged again, and they soon found themselves staring at a plump cheery-faced receptionist, a baby blue headband holding back her short blonde hair.

“Welcome to Pacifica Club!” she exclaimed. “I’m Amanda. How can I help you?”

Allison approached the woman’s desk and smiled brightly. “Allison Cross of Argent, Inc. I have an appointment with Mr. Welles.”

The woman typed something into her computer. “Yes, here you are! Right on time! Let me just buzz someone to come get you.”

Allison smiled and nodded. 

Amanda picked up the receiver on her phone and punched in some numbers. “Hi, Lacy? Bill’s three o’clock is here.” She paused for a moment while the other person responded. “Thank you!” she said, hanging up the phone. 

“Lacy will be right out to take you to Bill’s office,” Amanda informed them.

“Thank you,” Allison said.

A few seconds later, the door behind Amanda’s desk opened and a petite black woman with silver framed glasses stepped out. “Allison Cross?” she asked.

“Hello,” Allison said, stepping towards her, holding out her hand.

“Hi, Allison,” the woman said warmly, shaking her hand. Allison was surprised to notice she had braces. “I’m Lacy, Bill’s personal assistant. If you would please follow me?”

Allison nodded and looked back at the others, who quickly followed as she walked after Lacy. Allison discreetly glanced at Kaede, who was walking next her. Kaede sniffed and rubbed his nose. It was the signal that they had devised to mean that, as far as they could tell, there was nothing supernatural about a person they encountered. Scott came up beside her, grabbing her hand. He smiled lovingly at her, and she smiled back, ever so slightly squinting her eyes. Scott sniffed and rubbed his nose, and Allison faced forward again and took a deep breath. Lacy and Amanda had both been cleared by Spirit Walker, Night Flower, and werewolf senses, but that didn’t mean they were in the clear. The building itself seemed completely normal, and none of their research had turned up anything else on Bill Welles other than the fact that he had been in Beacon Hills each time someone disappeared from the preserve. Still, Allison was nervous, and she knew better than to let her guard down.

Lacy lead them to her desk and then picked up her phone. “Bill, Allison Cross is here to see you.” 

She hung up the phone and then gestured for Allison and the others to follow. She led them to a door a few feet away from her desk and opened it. 

“Bill, this is Allison Cross. You have another meeting at four and you need to leave by five for your flight to Kansas,” Lacy said.

“Thank you, Lacy,” Bill said, a slender man in his forties with glasses and thinning mouse brown hair.

Lacy dipped her head and left, allowing Allison and the others to file into the room. 

Bill stood up from his desk and held out his hand. “Hello, Allison. Bill Welles; it’s really nice to meet you.”

“Thank you for taking the time to meet with us,” Allison said happily as she shook his hand.

“Well, anyone offering to donate a few million dollars to protect our wild spaces is certainly someone that I want to talk to,” he replied. “So, it looks like you’ve brought quite the entourage with you!”

Allison flushed slightly and giggled. “This is my husband, Scott,” she said, placing her hand on the small of Scott’s back and gently nudging him forward.

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Scott said, shaking his hand.

“My business partner, Kaede Yukimura,” she said, gesturing at the Night Flower, who bowed, “my brother, Derek Cross, and his husband, Stiles.”

“It’s very nice to meet all of you,” Bill said, shaking hands with each of them. He gestured towards the meeting area with some couches, chairs and a coffee table. “Please,” he said, “have a seat. Can I offer you anything to drink?”

Scott caught Allison looking at him, so he flared his nostrils slightly, the signal that something was amiss, before saying, “Actually, some water would be great.”

Allison turned to Bill and smiled. “Water would be perfect,” she said, sitting on the couch. Scott sat down next to her as Bill poured two glasses of water and set them on the coffee table in front of them.

“And, for you three?” Bill asked as the others sat down.

“No, thank you,” Kaede replied.

“We’re fine,” Stiles said, answering for himself and Derek. 

Derek reached an arm around Stiles’ back and squeezed his shoulder, smiling at Bill. Everyone in the room besides Bill was familiar enough with Derek’s facial expressions to know that the smile was forced. Bill smelled distinctly of plants, of old green things.

Bill sat down across from Allison and Scott. “I had my people look into your company when you first asked to meet with me. I have to say that I’m quite impressed with your dedication to staying green.”

Allison smiled. Danny had created a website for their fake company, as well as Internet personalities for each of their false identities. According to various “sources,” Derek and Stiles’ drunken escapades were the talk of San Francisco, while Allison, Scott and Kaede could be found regularly rubbing elbows with the Northern California social elite. Argent, Inc. was worth several hundred million dollars, with holdings all over the world, a business empire Allison purportedly inherited from her father.

“Like the Pacifica Club, Argent, Inc is dedicated to preserving the environment for future generations,” Allison said. “That’s why we wanted to talk to you about making a donation. We know about some of the work that you do, especially in Northern California, where most of us have family ties.”

“That part of the state is quite beautiful,” Bill said, pouring himself a glass of water. “I love all of the redwood trees. Tell me, are you familiar with a town called Beacon Hills?”

“We’re actually quite familiar with Beacon Hills,” Allison said brightly. “Scott and Stiles are both from there. They have a beautiful preserve that has lots of great hiking trails.”

Bill nodded, “It’s also home to several endangered insects and plants, and one very rare species of freshwater mollusk.”

“Wow,” Allison replied, opening her eyes in genuine surprise. “We had no idea!” she said looking around at the others, who shook their heads in agreement.

“Mr. Welles,” Kaede said, “please let us get to the point. Our people have already vetted your company and the way you do business, and we like what we have seen. But, we do not want to just give you money. We would like to be more involved than that. We want to help.”

Bill smiled and pointed at Kaede enthusiastically. “That is exactly what I like to hear! I knew right away when I saw you people that we were going to do great things together!”

Stiles started coughing and Derek began patting him on the back.

“You okay, Stiles?” Scott asked.

“Yeah,” Stiles croaked out, before coughing some more. “I just got a tickle in my throat all of a sudden.”

“Here,” Scott said, holding out his glass. “Have some of my water.”

Stiles nodded, scrunching up his face as he pretended to hold back a cough. He took a swallow, then handed the glass back to Scott. Red-faced, he said, “Bill, do you think I could use your restroom?”

“Of course!” he replied, rising from his seat. “Let me just call Lacy…”

“No, no,” Stiles said, waving him off. “I can ask her. You all keep talking; I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll go with you,” Derek said, standing up.

Stiles reached back and grabbed Derek’s hand as he moved towards the office door. Lacy looked up when she saw the door open.

“Mr. Bilinski!” she said, seeing Stiles’ red face. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Stiles said. “Could you just point me towards the bathroom?”

“Of course,” she said, standing up. “Let me take you there.”

“That’s okay, I don’t want to bother you,” Stiles said. “If you just tell us where it is, I’m sure we can manage.”

“Sure,” Lacy said, pointing down the hall. “It’s just down there, on your left.”

“Thank you,” Stiles said abruptly, walking quickly in the direction indicated.

Derek flashed her an apologetic smile as Stiles dragged him away. When they got to the bathroom, Stiles let go of his hand, went to the sink, and splashed some water on his face.

“That was quite the performance you put on back there,” Derek said, smirking at Stiles’ reflection in the mirror.

Stiles smiled back at him as he straightened his tie. “I told you I could do it.”

Derek came up behind him and planted a kiss on the back of his neck. “I will never doubt your acting abilities again.”

“Come on,” Stiles said, tossing the paper towel he had used to dry his face into the trash. “It’s time to do some sneaking.”

“That it is,” Derek agreed, cocking his head to the side, listening for anyone in the hallway. “The coast is clear.”

They stepped quietly into the hallway and began walking in the direction opposite from which they came. 

“Bill smelled like the thing that took those people,” Derek whispered. 

Stiles nodded. “He felt like whatever it was, too. I couldn’t see any energy coming off of him, but I could feel it. He felt ancient, like he should be a mummy or something, not some middle-aged dude.”

“There’s people around the corner,” Derek said.

Stiles stopped and listened. “I don’t hear anything.”

“They’re behind a door, but there’s a lot of them,” Derek continued. “Phones, too. Sounds like a call center.”

“Makes sense, considering where we are,” Stiles said.

Derek led the way, and they peeked around the corner to see a glass door leading to a well-lit room filled with about two dozen people. Their desks were arranged in rows, and every single one of them was talking on the phone.

“That is definitely a call center,” Stiles said. “Oh look! That one has green eyes!”

Derek squinted. “Which one?”

“That one!” Stiles said, pointing. “Her eyes are glowing green! That one, too!”

“I can’t see it,” Derek said. “But, I’m picking up that plant smell again.” He looked around, worried. “We need to go before someone finds us.”

“They don’t look that scary,” Stiles said. “Besides, we can just say we got lost.”

“Stiles,” Derek said, sounding exasperated. “The last time we fought a kami, four people died. Four Night Flowers! Have you forgotten how hard it is to get rid one of them?”

Stiles deflated. “Fine, let’s go back. We probably need to make sure Scott isn’t getting himself killed, anyway.”

When they got back to Bill’s office, they found the four engaged in a very serious discussion about the proposed logging scheduled to be done in the Beacon Hills Preserve over the next five years.

“I know I don’t need to tell you how devastating all of the logging has been to forests around the world over the last century,” Bill was saying, as Stiles and Derek took their seats.

“Are you okay, Stiles?” Allison asked.

Stiles nodded and grabbed Derek’s hand in both of his. “Have you all figured out all the details?”

“Almost,” Kaede said, leaning forward. “There is just one detail we have yet to discuss.”

“Please! Ask away!” Bill said, leaning back into his chair, smiling broadly at all of them. “I’m an open book.”

“While doing our research, we came across an interesting pattern,” Kaede said. “Each of the last three times you visited the preserve, people have gone missing there.”  
The instant Kaede said it, he and the two wolves heard it. The slight, yet sudden, surge in Bill’s heartbeat. His face grew serious.

“I’m not sure what you’re asking me,” Bill said, leaning forward. “Surely you don’t think I had anything to do with that.”

Kaede smiled. “Most assuredly not,” he replied. “But, you have many people in your organization, and the timing…” he trailed off. “We thought perhaps someone might have seen or heard something since there were so many gathered in the preserve at the time these disappearances occurred.”

Bill nodded soberly in understanding. “You can rest assured that we will contact any and all of our members who were in the preserve during those times to find out if anyone knows anything. Honestly, this is the first that I’m hearing about any of this, and if people are disappearing, that’s no joke. I want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do.”

“Thank you,” Kaede said, standing up. “I trust you will let us know if you find out anything. Even the smallest clue would be helpful for the investigation at this point. We understand that the police have run out leads.”

“Of course,” Bill said, standing up as well and holding his hand out for Kaede. 

Kaede shook his hand and bowed. 

“We’ll be in touch,” Allison said, shaking Bill’s hand. “Maybe the next time you’re in Beacon Hills, we can all get together? It’s been a while since Scott and Stiles have seen their parents.”

“That is a wonderful idea!” Bill said, shaking hands with the rest of them.

They filed out of Bill's office, remaining silent but amiable until they were back outside.

“It’s him!” Stiles burst out once they were about a half-block away from the front door.

“Yeah,” Scott agreed. “His heartbeat jumped when Kaede asked about the missing people. He’s guilty.”

“What do we do now?” Kaede asked. “He is definitely under the possession of something. You could feel it, too?” he asked Stiles.

Stiles nodded. “Yeah. And, some of the people in the call center, their eyes were glowing green, like when the ‘Rage of the Sea’ got control of Kasumi and the others.”

“We need to talk to Deaton,” Allison said. “He might know something about this.”

“I will speak with my Aunt, as well,” Kaede replied. “I have a feeling we are going to need help.”

“I’ll get in touch with Lydia,” Stiles said. “She just got back to Japan and she’s probably gonna miss a few classes, but we need her here.”

The others nodded and Stiles turned to face the road, flagging down a couple of taxis. He and Derek got into one of them, while Scott, Allison and Kaede got into the other.

Stiles turned slightly to face the window, leaned back into Derek, and sighed. “What are we doin’, Derek?” He asked, as the taxi pulled away from the curb.

“What we always do,” Derek answered, absentmindedly running his fingers through Stiles’ hair. “We take care of the problem.”

“I don’t know what you were able to pick up with your wolfy senses, but the energy coming off of that Bill guy…” he trailed off, squeezing his eyes shut. “It wasn’t like the ‘Rage of the Sea.’ It was so old. So old, Derek. I’m pretty sure if he had gotten even the slightest clue about to who we are or why we were really there, we would have never made it out of that office alive.”

“Which is why you and Kaede made sure we were protected with the necessary Night Flower powders before we left,” Derek replied, his hand pausing. He started stroking Stiles’ hair again. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Based on the rate that people have been disappearing, we have some time. We’ll talk to Deaton, talk to the Night Flowers. We have time to come up with a plan. At least we can say for sure now who’s responsible.”

“No,” Stiles said, shaking his head. “Welles is just a puppet. We barely know any more now than when we started.”

Derek grimaced and kissed the top of Stiles’ head. “We’re almost back to the hotel,” he said. “Try not to think about it. We can’t do anything about it right now.”

Stiles wanted to say something, but he bit his tongue. He sighed again, pressing back into Derek, seeking his familiar solid warmth. Derek slid an arm around his torso, pulling him close and resting his chin on top of Stiles’ head. Though they were only minutes from the hotel, Stiles could feel himself drifting off as he imagined a magical future where he and Derek and the rest of the pack wouldn’t have to deal with things like this anymore. When he could lean into Derek just because he felt like it, not because he needed to. Lacing his fingers with Derek’s, he let sleep pull him in, just so he wouldn’t have to think, so he wouldn’t have to worry, at least for a little while.


End file.
